This article was downloaded by: [Universita degli Studi di Torino] On: 04 May 2013, At: 01:03 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Journal of the Institute of Conservation Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rcon20 The maker and the monk: conservation of the Mercator Atlas of Europe Ann‐Marie Miller & Lesley Hanson Published online: 08 Mar 2010. To cite this article: Ann‐Marie Miller & Lesley Hanson (2010): The maker and the monk: conservation of the Mercator Atlas of Europe , Journal of the Institute of Conservation, 33:1, 29-39 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19455220903509952 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae, and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.
Transcript
This article was downloaded by: [Universita degli Studi di Torino]On: 04 May 2013, At: 01:03Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: MortimerHouse, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK
Journal of the Institute of ConservationPublication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rcon20
The maker and the monk: conservation of theMercator Atlas of EuropeAnn‐Marie Miller & Lesley HansonPublished online: 08 Mar 2010.
To cite this article: Ann‐Marie Miller & Lesley Hanson (2010): The maker and the monk: conservation of the MercatorAtlas of Europe , Journal of the Institute of Conservation, 33:1, 29-39
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19455220903509952
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE
Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions
This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematicreproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form toanyone is expressly forbidden.
The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contentswill be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae, and drug dosesshould be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions,claims, proceedings, demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly orindirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.
The maker and the monk: conservation of the Mercator Atlas of Europe
Taylor and FrancisRCON_A_451428.sgm(Received 27 November 2008; Accepted 29 June 2009)10.1080/19455220903509952Journal of the Institute of Conservation0143-1161 (print)/1366-5901 (online)Original Article2010Taylor & Francis331000000March 2010Ms [email protected] repair; Mercator; atlas; copper pigments; verdigris; gypsum
The Mercator Atlas of EuropeGerardus Mercator (1512–1594) was a Flemish cartographer, a renownedengraver of wall maps and globe maker. He is also credited with theinvention of the term ‘Atlas’ and in 1569 he developed what is now knownas the ‘Mercator projection’ which had the property that in the temperatezones, any line drawn on a map corresponded to a straight line in reality.1
As Crane, Mercator’s biographer explained:
‘Mercator had ruled an immutable framework for global mapping, a planargrid which would prove as timeless as the planetary theory of Copernicus.In seeking the essence of spatial truth he had become the father of modernmap-making.‘2
The Mercator projection was the preferred projection for planispheres untilwell into the nineteenth century, and is still universally employed fornavigational purposes.3
Prior to achieving geographical acclaim for devising a revolutionarycartographic and navigational tool, Mercator had already shown his prow-ess as a cartographer when in 1554 he published a wall map of Europe.This map, which, until the discovery of the subject of this paper was putup for sale, was known only from a single example in Wroclaw (Breslau)that was thought to have been destroyed during the Second World War,was distributed across Europe, selling several thousand copies in just afew years.4 In the Atlas of Europe, now in the British Library (BL), the wallmap of Europe survives as 9 plates, in 15 sheets, derived from 4 originalcopies.5 The wall map of Europe, is dedicated to Antoine Perronet, laterCardinal Granvelle, Philip II of Spain’s principal minister. Mercator’ssources on which he based his version of the 1554 wall map of Europewere both historical using maps by Ptolemy, Bede and Boethius andcontemporary including maps by Olaus Magnus, Jacob Ziegler andJohannes Ruysch.6
The Mercator Atlas of Europe (British Library, Maps C.29.C.13) is a uniqueitem containing not only remaining parts of Mercator’s 1554 wall map ofEurope but also two unique manuscript maps thought to be by Mercator.Because of this it is the most important surviving body of Mercator’s workin a single volume.
The contents of the Atlas were identified as comprising 17 compositemaps made up from Mercator’s engraved and hand-coloured wall maps.These composite maps have been identified as being made up from 9 platesfrom the 1554 wall map of Europe; 6 plates from the 1564 wall maps of theBritish Isles—the largest and most detailed map of the British Isles that hadever been printed; and 2 plates from the large world map of 1569 (Fig. 1).7Mercator also included in the Atlas 30 maps from his contemporary Abra-ham Ortelius’ Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (1570). Ortelius’ Theatrum was avolume of maps comprising copies of maps by other cartographers
(Received 27 November 2008; Accepted 29 June 2009)
1 J.R. Akerman, ‘Atlas Birth of a Title’,in The Mercator Atlas of Europe, ed. M.Watelet, (Pleasant Hill, Oregon: WalkingTree Press, 1998), 15–28; M. Pastoureau,‘The 1569 World Map’, in The MercatorAtlas of Europe, ed. M. Watelet, (PleasantHill, Oregon: Walking Tree Press, 1998),79–92.
2 N. Crane, Mercator: The Man WhoMapped the Planet (London: Phoenix,2003), 231.
3 Pastoureau, ‘The 1569 World Map’,79.
4 M. Watelet, ‘The Atlas of Europe’, inThe Mercator Atlas of Europe, ed. M.Watelet, (Pleasant Hill, Oregon: WalkingTree Press, 1998), 7.
5 Watelet, ‘The Atlas of Europe’, 10. Theoriginal dimensions of the 1554 wallmap of Europe would have been: height1,200mm by width 1,469mm, composedof 15 sheets. The plates present in theAtlas were identified during theresearch accompanying the productionof a facsimile of the Atlas in 1998,following its acquisition by the BritishLibrary acquired with the help of theHeritage Lottery Fund.
6 Crane, Mercator: The Man Who Mappedthe Planet, 181.
7 Originally the large 1569 world mapwould have comprised 8 sheets, 876mm× 1,271mm, Crane, Mercator: The ManWho Mapped the Planet, 200.
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engraved at reduced scale bound together in a logical order.8 Also includedare two pen and ink manuscript maps, which are assumed to be in Merca-tor’s own hand, which are both regional maps of Italy; and one map ofunknown provenance depicting a city plan of Ancona.Fig. 1 Mercator Atlas of Europe (British Library, Maps C.29.C.13), folio 2v-3r, Europe comprised of plates from Mercator’s World Map of 1569.Both Mercator’s composite maps, and those taken from Ortelius, appearto have been hand-coloured after the compilation of the black ink engrav-ings with a variety of pigments including: vermilion; red lead; indigoidblue; yellow lake and a green pigment identified as being verdigris, andmany of the maps have additional iron-gall ink inscriptions.9 The maps areprinted on different off-white, laid handmade papers, of medium weightand arranged across eight sections.
In terms of the Atlas’ provenance, it is not possible to make any definitepronouncements as to its origins. One hypothesis suggested by Wateletand upheld by Crane, suggests that the patron of the Atlas was Werner vonGymnich, marshal of Jülich, who may have wanted a portable selection ofup-to-date European maps.10 This is based on the choice of maps includedin the Atlas, as von Gymnich had an interest in Northern Italy, which isillustrated in some detail by the addition of the manuscript maps and thatof Ancona.11 This is further suggested by the fact that the Atlas was keptand later rebound, in 1771, in a Cistercian monastery just a few miles fromDuisberg, where Mercator lived, and to which in 1605 von Gymnich’s wifegave a substantial donation, the details of which are unknown.
The colophon inscription, at the foot of the ‘Index omnium mapparum’of the Atlas states:
‘These maps were restored and gathered into this condensed volume in theyear of Our Lord 1771 by me, Alanus Ortmans, monk of the CistercianOrder … in the Grove of the Blessed Virgin Mary.’
The Grove of the Blessed Virgin Mary was a Cistercian monastery inMariawald, near modern-day Heimbach, previously in the Schleidendistrict of Julich.
8 Crane, Mercator: The Man Who Mappedthe Planet, 244. See also http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/ttp/mercator/accessible/pages5and6.html# content(accessed 9 March 2006).
9 These pigments were identifiedinitially by Nicholas Eastaugh in hisreport prior to the sale of the map in1997. This was not an exhaustive analy-sis of the pigments, but intended toascertain whether they were contempo-rary with the Atlas’ provenance. Themanuscript maps were also examined atthis time. N. Eastaugh, The MercatorAtlas of Europe: A Scientific Examinationof the Colouring Used on the Maps, Ref:96457.1, Report, 1996. The results ofthese analyses were confirmed byfourier transform infra-red microscopy(FTIR) analyses performed by DavidPeggie on behalf of the National GalleryLondon in 2006.
10 Watelet, ‘The Atlas of Europe’, 7.Crane, Mercator: The Man Who Mappedthe Planet, 244.
11 Crane, Mercator: The Man WhoMapped the Planet, 248.
Fig. 1 Mercator Atlas of Europe (British Library, Maps C.29.C.13), folio 2v-3r, Europe comprisedof plates from Mercator’s World Map of 1569.
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This inscription helps to explain the binding format in which the Atlasarrived at the BL, and which seems modest for a volume with the status theAtlas would have afforded at the time of its manufacture. Peter Barber,Head of Maps, believes the original sixteenth-century binding would havebeen more akin to those by Battista Agnese. These were typically full-leather, elegant bindings with restrained blind tooling with gilt borders.12
Watelet has suggested that the Atlas was ‘given a complete over-haul’ byOrtmans following a technique used to re-house property registers, thusreplacing its original binding.13 Having been in contact with the archivist atthe Mariawald monastery, we have found no evidence to support thenotion that the existing binding was typical of either the monastery or foreighteenth-century property registers as no other bindings in a similarformat survive in the archive. It was assumed therefore that the bindingformat in which the Atlas arrived at the BL was that of the eighteenth-century restoration.14
The monastery at Mariawald was closed and archival holdings dispersedin 1797–1798 and after this time, until its rediscovery in 1967 by anAmsterdam collector, Thomas Varekamp, we have no records concerningthe Atlas’s whereabouts. The Atlas was purchased by the British RailPension Fund at Sotheby’s, London in March 1979. It was then held at theNational Library of Scotland, until its sale, again at Sothebys in May 1996where it was purchased by the BL made possible by a grant from theHeritage Lottery Fund.
On receipt at the BL in 1997 it was clear that the Atlas had suffered frompoor handling and storage, at some stage prior to 1979 as the binding wasin a poor condition.15 The Atlas was in a paper quarter-binding withsixteenth-century printed waste as the spine covering and boards oflaminated blue handmade paper.16 Only the vaguest skinned remnant ofthe cream paper thought to have covered the boards was visible. Thebook was sewn on four parchment tapes which were laced into the boards(Fig. 2).Fig. 2 Mercator Atlas of Europe (British Library, Maps C.29.C.13), 1771 binding inside front cover before conservation.The aims of the conservation project were to examine the evidence andprovide a thorough documentation of the original binding and structure ofthe maps; to assess the Atlas’s condition and develop treatment optionsusing the guiding principle of minimum intervention. This article describesadditional information on the structure of the Atlas that came to lightduring the conservation project and which contributes to the availablescholarship.
Past repairs and verdigris damageOverall, the condition of the binding was too poor to allow researchers touse it or for it to be displayed. The eighteenth-century binding was offeringno support or protection. The spine was lost and the sewing broken, withthe backs of the sections exposed and broken. The fourth sewing tape wassplit and the boards were covered with ingrained dirt and were soft, wornand delaminating. They offered no protection physically and were wornand degraded so that they were smaller than the textblock leaving theedges exposed and prone to damage. One folio from Mercator’s 1564 mapof the British Isles had been removed in 1997, for display in the Treasuresgallery at the BL. It was the intention of the current programme of conser-vation to reintegrate all elements of the binding.
The textblock was also extremely vulnerable with extensive creasing,fracturing and many minor losses. There were heavily ingrained andsurface dirt, accretions, residual adhesive, edge tears and ink smudgeson all folios. There was also minor skinning in some of the pigmentedareas. Each section had been reinforced at the spine on the verso with apaper guard, occasionally two were visible. Some of the heavy gutter
12 Peter Barber, Head of Maps, BritishLibrary, conversation with the author,21 July 2009.
15 The Atlas was documented whilst inthe care of the National Library ofScotland in 1993, on behalf of Railpen, aBritish Rail pension fund.
16 The spine covering was identifiedwith the help of John Goldfinch, Headof Incunabula and Early Western Manu-scripts, British Library. The blue lami-nated paper used for the boards wasidentified by Peter Bower as beingcrude linen and rag mix, with old hemprope, straw, dust and other rubbish,typical of wrapping papers made inWestern Europe during the seventeenthand eighteenth centuries. P. Bower, ThePapers Found in an Atlas Containing Mapsby Gerardus Mercator (1512–1594) andAbraham Ortelius (1527–1594) On theInstructions of Books and ManuscriptsDepartment Sotheby’s 34–35 New BondStreet, London, W1A 2AA, Report,September 1996, 1.
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repairs and composite segments were also lifting where adhesive haddegraded.
During the 1771 rebinding, 11 maps located at the outside of each of the 8sections had been tipped on to the adjacent folios causing weakness andfracturing of the paper around the stiff guards as a consequence of therebound format and subsequent handling. There were also many heavy,square-cut or torn repairs which had been crudely retouched. These repairswe assigned to the eighteenth century, as they were produced using thesame paper as the guards from the 1771 rebinding. Throughout the volumethere was also evidence of more recent repair on both verso and recto,using modern conservation materials which appeared similar to Lenstissues or tengujo in weight and appearance. We presumed that the wetapplication of these repairs, caused by the high moisture content of theadhesive that had been used to apply them, had resulted in severe cocklingand distortion with accelerated deterioration of the verdigris. This wasseen by darkening of the areas where the repairs had been applied andwhere the green pigment was also present.
All of these stages of repair had become part of the Atlas’ history and assuch they presented us with some ethical and treatment dilemmas particu-larly regarding whether we should remove and/or replace them.
The most dramatic and disfiguring damage was the deterioration, stain-ing and offset staining of the paper, resulting from chemical reactions catal-ysed by the verdigris pigment (Fig. 3). This was typified by the browning,brittleness, fracturing and loss in areas where the verdigris pigment hadbeen applied. Seventy-eight percent of folios exhibited a relatively severelevel of verdigris damage.Fig. 3 Mercator Atlas of Europe (British Library, Maps C.29.C.13), verdigris damage on folio 74, transmitted light.We had been specifically requested by Peter Barber to look for evidenceof a different earlier configuration. This led to the further examination ofstaining and off-set patterns using full-scale colour-coded tracings ofdamage and sewing stations on Melinex™ sheets. Comparison of thestains established that off-set staining of some of the verdigris damage didnot match facing pages, indicating that indeed they had not always beennext to each other in the book. The recording of the eighteenth-century
Fig. 2 Mercator Atlas of Europe (British Library, Maps C.29.C.13), 1771 binding inside frontcover before conservation.
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sewing stations was essential information for the recreation of the currentbinding format following the production of scale binding models duringtreatment.
As well as the tracings a Microsoft Access® database was established torecord information about the construction, composition, condition andprevious treatment of the Atlas. This proved an invaluable tool as a perma-nent, searchable store of information, prior to its treatment. Three catego-ries: bibliographic data, condition reporting data and treatment data couldbe consulted quickly to evaluate any pattern of damage and helped informus about their extent and severity.
A basic qualitative risk assessment was also carried out to identify andmanage the potential risks, the likelihood of them occurring, as well asthe severity of the consequences, and to make recommendations for thesafe handling, storage and display of the Atlas.17 The risks were catego-rized as handling, movement and environmental in terms of levels andfrequency of reader access, display and loan. The methodology was usedbecause of its value in communicating risks to non-specialists and provedeffective in establishing and supporting methods for mitigating the risksidentified.
Testing and instrumental analysisThorough testing was undertaken to evaluate the stability and composi-tion of the Atlas. The adhesives used in the composite maps and bindingwere tested with ninhydrin and potassium iodide, all samples were posi-tive for protein. The inks and pigments were tested with deionized waterand 50:50 deionized water and ethanol and found to be stable in bothsolvents.
A Multi-spectral Imaging System (MuSIS) camera was used to providespectral cubes of the 32 different wavelengths from the UV to the infrared.The inside of the front board and the front fly leaf were imaged with the
17 Following methodology outlined in,Joint Technical Committee OB/7: RiskManagement: Joint Australia / NewZealand Standard, Standards Associationof Australia, 1999. We also referred to J.Ashley Smith, Risk Assessment for ObjectConservation (London: ButterworthHeinemann, 1999), 285–309.
Fig. 3 Mercator Atlas of Europe (British Library, Maps C.29.C.13), verdigris damage on folio74, transmitted light.
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aim of ‘lifting’ and making their text readable. The text on the verso ofthe boards was visible but illegible, and it was clear that it did not matchthe text on the facing fly leaves. Results have not yet been fully evaluatedbut the information has been stored and it is hoped that the information inthe text can add more to the context of this unique item.18
Prior to the purchase of the Atlas by the BL, reports had been compiledby the auction house to verify its authenticity. Watermark identificationof the majority of the printed sheets had been conducted by the forensicpaper historian, Peter Bower. The watermarks were all found to be contem-porary and geographically appropriate.19 Pigment identification had beenundertaken by Nicholas Eastaugh, private easel painting conservator andpigment specialist using polarized light microscopy and X-ray fluores-cence.20 All results confirmed that all the pigments in the Atlas were in useat the time Mercator was working, and our examination supported thesefindings. The opportunity to use earlier reports and to consult with expertswho had prepared them really benefited the project and our understandingof the Atlas as we were able to build on the expertise of others withoutreplicating analyses, and expand our research into the more troublesomeissues in the Atlas’s manufacture, such as the verdigris pigment
In consultation with Barry Knight, Head of Conservation Research at theBL, it was decided to concentrate our efforts on the identification of verdigrisdegradation products and the green and red pigments using infrared spec-troscopy. This analysis was performed by Dr David Peggie and MarikaSpring from the National Gallery, London. Infrared spectroscopy of thegreen pigment in the maps tested—Scotia (composite), Tirolis (manuscript)and Portugalia (Ortelius)—revealed the surprising discovery of the presenceof rare copper oxalates (CuC2O4).21 This was particularly interesting as theyhave been observed previously as an alteration product on wall paintingsand easel paintings with copper-based paint but do not appear to have beenrecorded on painted paper objects.22 Although it is unlikely that it has beenused directly as a pigment on the Atlas, it is difficult to discern whether itwas formed as a direct result of the additives used in the manufacture of thegreen pigment or as a degradation product, formed by the combined degra-dation of the paper and/or binder with the original copper-based pigments.It is possible that the seeming rarity of copper oxalate in paper degradationmay only be a symptom of not having been looked for previously.
As well as identifying copper oxalate the infrared microscopy alsoidentified a gypsum (CaSO4·2(H2O)) layer under the pigment layer of allthe pages tested. It is thought that this could be associated with the prepa-ration of the paper, which is potentially very significant for academicunderstanding of atlas and map manufacture in the sixteenth century, andmay have contributed to the formation of the copper oxalates. Gypsum wasfound in the majority of samples analysed and significantly was not used inpaper preparation until the nineteenth century. It was however used insixteenth-century globe manufacture in which it helped the paper gores toadhere to the plaster-coated globe core.23 The use of traditional globe-making techniques in the manufacture of the Atlas supports the suggestionthat someone familiar with such techniques, as Mercator was well-knownto be, produced it. It also suggests that at the time when it was produced,globe-making constituted a considerable, and possibly the major, part ofMercator’s activities, though relatively few of his globes now survive.
Ethics and decision makingMinimal intervention was one of the guiding principles agreed beforecommencing any documentation. For the purposes of the project minimumintervention was defined as being the least conservation treatmentnecessary that would enable the Atlas to function as a bound volume once
18 MuSIS has been used by the NationalArchives of Scotland for pigment identi-fication, Conservation Newssheet 3: TheConservation of the Mercator Maps,National Archives of Scotland, http://www.nas.gov.uk/documents/newssheet3.pdf (accessed 31 March2006).
19 These are categorised and describedin Bower, The Papers Found in an Atlas,1–5.
20 Eastaugh, The Mercator Atlas ofEurope: A Scientific Examination, 1–5.
21 This was found by comparison with astandard reference spectrum using FTIRmicroscopy. D. Peggie, Mercator Project2006: Green Samples Analysed by FTIRMicroscopy—Preliminary Report. See alsoH. Kühn, ‘Verdigris and CopperResinates’ in Artists Pigments—A Hand-book of their History and Characteristics, ed.Ashok Roy, vol. 2 (Washington DC:National Gallery of Art, 1993), 131–56,and D.A. Scott, Y. Taniguchi and E.Koseto, ‘The Verisimilitude of Verdigris:a Review of the Copper Carboxylates’,Reviews in Conservation 2 (2001): 73–91.
22 E.A. Moffat, N.T. Adair and G.S.Young, ‘The Occurrence of Oxalates onThree Chinese Wall Paintings’, Applica-tion of Science Examination of Works of Art(Boston, MA: Museum of Fine Arts, 1983)234–8, and C. Higgit and R. White, ‘Anal-yses of Paint Media: New Studies of Ital-ian Paintings of the Fifteenth andSixteenth Centuries’, National GalleryTechnical Bulletin 26 (2005): 88–97. Seealso R.J. Gettens and E. West Fitzhugh,‘Identification of the Materials of Paint-ings—Malachite and Green Verditer’,Studies in Conservation 19 (1974): 2–23.
23 Gypsum was first used in Europeanpapermaking as a loading material in1823, D. Hunter, Papermaking: the Historyand Technique of an Ancient Craft (NewYork: Dover Publications, 1978), 541, andS. Sumira, ‘The Conservation of Globes’Restaurator 22, no. 1 (1992): 20–7. Heynotes a possible influence of Arabic alumsizing methods which used lime toneutralise acidity: C. Federici andM. Hey, ‘Problems Involved in theRestoration of a Mercator Atlas’, (Inter-national Council of Museums–Commit-tee for Conservation: Preprints of the 4th
Triennial Meeting Venice, 13–18 October1975), 10–11. See also E.L. Stevenson,Terrestrial and Celestial Globes—TheirHistory and Construction Including aConsideration of their Value as Aids in theStudy of Geography and Astronomy (NewHaven, CT: Yale University Press, 1921),133 and 201, and A.D. Baynes-Cope, TheStudy and Conservation of Globes (Vienna:International Coronelli Society, 1985).
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again, re-using its existing components and that would enable it to endurelimited handling and display. The analyses commissioned, which hadidentified sensitive and degraded verdigris pigment, copper oxalates andthe use of gypsum as a preparation layer, reinforced the need for a sensitiverepair technique with minimum moisture content and also ruled out aque-ous treatment of the paper. Any aqueous treatment would have resulted inthe loss of information in terms of the paper preparation and may haveresulted in separation of the segmented parts of the wall maps that wereused to make up the maps throughout the book. Having discovered thatthe order of some of the maps had been altered presumably at the time ofthe eighteenth century re-binding we had a short discussion with the cura-tor about the possibility of reordering the maps, possibly recreating theoriginal sixteenth century order. It was felt however that there was insuffi-cient evidence to justify altering the eighteenth-century grouping. Anyaqueous treatment on the disbound maps also carried the dangers of possi-ble dimensional changes in the different papers, or even altering the func-tionality of the maps.
In addition there was the very real risk of exacerbating the verdigrisdamage. A literature review of previous treatments of similar objectsshowed washing and deacidification followed by lining and use of heat settissue and calcium acetate have been recommended.24 However, Banik hasnoted that, ‘Verdigris damaged areas are highly reactive to light, heat, acid,alkali and moisture.’25 Minimal intervention was vital to preserve informa-tion inherent in the materials for future research.
After documentation, it became necessary to set out the parameters andpractical applications of our approach. We needed to define what minimalintervention meant in practice. For the project it meant preserving the exist-ing repairs and crude re-touchings unless they were causing damage orcovering unique text or image, as removal would require moisture whichwould adversely affect the pigmented areas.
We needed to learn from the adverse effects of the existing repairs, whichhad been made using a wet paste and therefore undergone an accelerateddegradation as noted above. Although the current aesthetic was marred bythese repairs, some were integral to the eighteenth-century rebinding, andthe Atlas’ material history. Ideally we needed to use a repair technique thatwas compatible with the extremely brittle and reactive condition of someparts of the Atlas and flexible enough to work within the bound format andits engineered structure.
The existing binding format was to be kept as it is historically important.Although the ‘original’ order was now perceptible using the verdigrisoffset, it was by no means definitive whereas the current order hadcertainly existed for at least 200 years. One change that was regarded asnecessary was the removal of the tipping down between the sections, as itwas a cause of severe mechanical distress and fracturing. It was also impor-tant to reintegrate all of the maps in the new binding, including the map ofthe British Isles that had been removed for display, and which would berepositioned back onto the guard from which it had been removed in 1997.
Paper repairTreatment began with mechanical cleaning using Japanese brushes, chemi-cal sponge and scalpels to remove damaging shives possibly from thepapermaking process. The tipping on was then released using localizedSympatex® packs. These made use of strips of bondina, Sympatex® anddamp blotter under polythene strips to control the amount of moisturecarefully. This was important as some areas were pigmented. Although notideal, we decided that the benefits of releasing the paper would be greaterthan the risks to the Atlas of leaving them in place.
24 L. Carlson, ‘An Interim Treatment forPaper Degraded by Verdigris’, AmericanInstitute for Conservation Book and PaperGroup Annual 16 (1997), http://cool.conservation-us.org/coolaic/sg/bpg/annual/v16/bp16-01.html(accessed 9 March 2006), and Federiciand Hey, ‘Problems Involved in theRestoration of a Mercator Atlas’, 1–20.
25 G. Banik, ‘Discolouration of GreenCopper Pigments in Manuscripts andWorks of Graphic Art’, Restaurator 10,no. 2 (1989): 61–73, and G. Banik, H.Stachelberger and O. Wachter, ‘Investi-gation of the Destructive Action ofCopper Pigments on Paper and Conse-quences for Conservation’ (Interna-tional Institute for Conservation:Preprints of the Contributions to theWashington Congress, Science andTechnology in the Service of Conserva-tion, 1982), 75–8.
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It was decided to repair the fractures on all areas of verdigris fracture andsmall losses and to support the damage due to the old repairs using fine fibrestitch repairs. This was a method adapted initially for use on fractured east-ern drawings by Lesley Hanson following methods presented by JaneColbourne.26 Trials have shown that this method provides great support andstrength with minimal introduction of moisture because only a tiny amountof paste is required. K[omacr ] zo shi II tissue was soaked and pulped in a blender;fibres were extracted from the moist pulp using fine dissecting tweezers anddried. This was best done on glass over a dark surface. When dry, the fibreswere trimmed using a scalpel. These were then adhered perpendicular to thedirection of the tear with jin/zin shofu wheat starch paste 1:7 wheat starch todeionized water (chosen for its low gluten content and flexibility)(Fig. 4).27Fig. 4 Fine fibre stitch repair, folio 4 Mercator Atlas of Europe (British Library, Maps C.29.C.13), detail raking light.Infills were made using handmade, Ruscombe Mill, Queen Anne laidWestern paper toned with watercolours. Guards, margins, tears, weaknessesalong folds and creases were all repaired using tengujo and k[omacr ] zo shi II tissuechosen for their weight, matt tone and strength (Fig. 5). Where the guardswere excessively thick due to the use of several layers of the eighteenth-century repair paper, and were causing mechanical distortion visible in theextensive fracturing of the maps themselves, they were thinned using ascalpel and repaired as necessary for the reconstruction of the sewnstructure. Although interventive, this procedure was necessary to stop theongoing deterioration of these areas and potential losses if left untreated.Fig. 5 Fine fibre stitch repair and infill folio 5 Mercator Atlas of Europe (British Library, Maps C.29.C.13), detail.Japanese paper hinges adhered with wheat starch paste that had beenapplied so that the map of the British Isles could be displayed were removedmechanically and with localized light humidification where necessary usinga solution of IMS and deionized water (50:50) and the map was replaced byadhering it to the guard from which it had been removed, but introducing arelease-layer of tengujo adhered with zin shofu wheat starch paste.
Binding repairDue to the unusual nature of the eighteenth-century rebinding, it was essen-tial to get a better understanding of the structure. 1:3 scale binding modelswere made to work out the mechanics of its structure and to establish
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26 As demonstrated on the ‘Pulp RepairTechniques and the Colouring of Pulpusing Traditional Japanese OrganicColourants’ course, held at the BritishLibrary, 2006.
27 A brand name for precipitated wheatstarch zen shofu, which has alternativelybeen translated as zin shofu and jin shofu,is treated to remove the insolubleglutamine in the starch. This produces avery smooth, water-soluble paste with aneutral pH. that is considered to be veryflexible when dry.
Fig. 5 Fine fibre stitch repair and infill folio 5 Mercator Atlas of Europe(British Library, Maps C.29.C.13), detail.
Fig. 4 Fine fibre stitch repair, folio 4 Mercator Atlas of Europe(British Library, Maps C.29.C.13), detail raking light.
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whether it was suitably flexible with good enough opening properties tosupport and present the maps after repair. It was found using the evidencecompiled in the folio-by-folio documentation that the sewn structure wasinelegant and ad-hoc, and had obviously not been produced by someonefamiliar with usual sewing structures of the period. Due to the heavy, paperguards that had been applied to the folds, both inside and out, of each bifo-lio, there was no detectable evidence of the sixteenth-century structure.Practical experimentation following the sewing holes and the impressionson the surviving supports showed that the sewing was a half figure of eightaround each tape, which was irregularly punctured by the needle roughlyin the centre of its width. It was nevertheless fully functional in terms ofproviding a good opening and access to the gutter regions of the maps.
Thus it was decided to reuse both the repaired sewing supports and theeighteenth-century sewing holes in the textblock as it was possible to repairthe existing tapes easily. The parchment tapes were repaired using 5% w/vSalianski isinglass with semi-tawed, split sheepskin. All of the tapes werereinforced with remoistenable goldbeaters’ skin coated with 5% w/vSalianski isinglass. The textblock was re-sewn with 18/3 linen thread.
The printed fragments of the quarter-binding were mapped by tracingthem on Melinex™ and then were dry-lifted from the cover. Their versoswere photographed as they had text on both sides. The boards were dry split,and then interleaved with a heavy western handmade wove linen paper ofa similar texture and colour. The same paper was then used to build up thecorners to create a rebate around the head, tail and fore-edge so that theboards would offer better protection to the textblock with a small square.The edges were then covered with a k[omacr ] zo paper, pre-toned using Cartasoldyes, to provide smooth, protected edges. They were then reattached usingthe original sewing supports, threaded through the repaired boards usingthe position of the original holes. The attachment was then reinforced byusing washed and stretch-dried aerocotton in strips between each of thesewing supports, extending beyond the spine and onto the boards. The quar-ter binding was remade using Ruscombe Mill, Queen Anne laid westernpaper toned with Daler-Rowney watercolours and cross-grained withJapanese k[omacr ] zo paper, toned with Cartasol dyes. The remnants of the spinecovering were then replaced in their original positions (Figs 6, 7 and 8).
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Fig. 6 Mercator Atlas of Europe (BritishLibrary, Maps C.29.C.13), front board,detail before conservation.
Fig. 7 Mercator Atlas of Europe (BritishLibrary, Maps C.29.C.13), front board, detailafter conservation.
Fig. 8 Mercator Atlas of Europe (British Library, Maps C.29.C.13), after conservation.
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Fig. 6 Mercator Atlas of Europe (British Library, Maps C.29.C.13), front board, detail before conservation.Fig. 7 Mercator Atlas of Europe (British Library, Maps C.29.C.13), front board, detail after conservation.Fig. 8 Mercator Atlas of Europe (British Library, Maps C.29.C.13), after conservation.The Atlas was then re-housed in a double-walled drop-back box withinternal book stand. This was accompanied by fully-illustrated handlingguidelines which are kept with the box following recommendations forvery restricted and supervised access. Guidelines have also been providedfor transport / movement. The risks to the Atlas from limited periodicdisplay as part of the rotation of items on display in the Treasures galleryare moderate to low following environmental recommendations for lowlight (up to a maximum of 50 lux) and RH (between 45% and 60%).28 Theverdigris damage is to be monitored by regular visual examination of theAtlas every five years. It is kept in stable environmental conditions inthe Maps strong room (RH between 45% and 60% and temperaturebetween 16°C and 19°C) with very limited access, away from light.29 Accessto its content is provided by the 1998 facsimile, which is available in thereference volumes in the Maps Reading Room, alongside a completevirtual copy available to the public via the ‘Turning the Pages™’ technol-ogy on the BL website.30 The tracings on Melinex™ made as part of thedocumentation are now kept in a post binder stored with the Atlas.
ConclusionsAs the project conservators, we derived great satisfaction from the fact thatthorough documentation techniques enabled us to build upon previousanalyses and identify in part, the possible original foliation, the presence ofcopper oxalates in the degradation products, and the presence of a gypsumlayer under the pigmented areas of the Atlas. These findings informed ourtreatment decisions and have added to the academic knowledge on theAtlas. We have also identified avenues for further research including paperpreparation incorporating gypsum in the sixteenth century and the use ofthe MuSIS for pigment identification.
The treatment was regarded as being successful by curatorial staff, asthe repairs were sensitive and sympathetic to the restored structure. Therepairs managed to support the Atlas’ maps in their current state withoutrequiring more physical intervention and within the ethical parameters forminimal intervention as defined for the project. The fine fibre stitch tech-nique adopted for this project was considered to be a physical and aestheticsuccess, as was the sensitive reconstruction of the binding, which openseffortlessly whilst retaining its integrity.
This project benefited greatly from the extensive availability of resourcesin terms of the time allowed for its execution and the open collaborationwith specialists from within the British Library and externally.
28 The BL meets the ISO BS 5454:2000,which specifies a temperature between16° and 20°C but the target temperaturefor the climate controls of the indepen-dently controlled cases in the RitblatTreasures gallery is 19°C±1°C. Thetarget RH inside the cases is 52%±5%.There is no UV content in the light usedinside the cases, which also have a UVfilter. Tony Parker, conservator respon-sible for environmental monitoring atthe BL (personal communication, emailto author), 20 October 2009.
29 The BL meets the ISO BS 5454:2000for its storage areas with a mean RHfrom April 2008–April 2009 of 55%, anda target temperature of 17°C, which wasmet for 98% of that 12 month period.Tony Parker (personal communication,email to author), 20 October, 2009.
30 http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/ttp/mercator/accessible/introduction.html (accessed 9 March 2006).
AcknowledgementsWe would particularly like to thank Peter Bower, Forensic PaperHistorian; Nicholas Eastaugh, Easel Paintings Conservator andPigment Specialist; David Peggie, from the National Gallery inLondon; Peter Barber, Vicki Humphrey, Barry Knight and HelenShenton from the British Library; and Robert Jackson from theNational Library of Scotland.
AbstractThe conservation of the Mercator Atlas of Europe was undertaken as ajoint project between a paper specialist and a book specialist. Theconservation project had unexpected aspects to it as documentationand analysis brought to light information about the order of themaps and the materials used to make them, including the use of agreen copper pigment and gypsum. This information not onlyaffected treatment decisions but also added to the body of knowl-
edge about this very significant book. Treatment included the use ofa newly-adapted technique using fine-fibre stitch repairs.
Résumé«Le Fabricant et le Moine: conservation de l’Atlas Mercator de l’Europe»
La conservation de l’Atlas Mercator de l’Europe est un projetentrepris en commun par un spécialiste en papier et un spécialisteen livre. Le projet de conservation a apporté des aspects inattenduspuisque la documentation et les analyses ont mis en lumière desinformations sur l’ordre des cartes et les matériaux utilisés pourleur réalisation, notamment l’emploi de pigments verts à base decuivre et l’emploi du gypse. Cette information a non seulementinfluencé les décisions de traitement mais aussi contribué au corpusde connaissances sur ce livre très important. Le traitement incluaitl’emploi d’une technique nouvellement adaptée utilisant des pointsde réparation à l’aide de fibres fines.
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Zusammenfassung
“The Maker and the Monk: Die Restaurierung-Konservierung desMercator Europa Atlasses”
Die Restaurierung des Mercator Atlasses wurde als Gemein-schaftsprojekt zwischen einem Papier-und einem Buchspezialistenunternommen. Das Restaurierungsprojekt entwickelte einige uner-wartete Aspekte, da die Dokumentation und Analyse Informa-tionen über die ursprüngliche Anordnung der Karten und derMaterialen, die in der Konstruktion gebraucht worden waren,einschließlich des Gebrauchs eines grünen Kupferpigmentes undKalziumsulfat zu Tage brachten. Dies beeinflusste nicht nur dieBehandlungsentscheidungen, sondern truge auch dazu bei, denWissensfundus über dieses sehr wichtige Buch zu erweitern. DieBehandlung beinhaltete den Gebrauch einer Methode von ‘fine-fibre-stitch’ Reparaturen.
Resumen“El fabricante y el monje: conservación del Atlas de Europa deMercator”
La conservación del Atlas de Europa de Mercator fue realizadacomo un proyecto conjunto entre un especialista de papel y unespecialista de libros. El proyecto de conservación presentóaspectos inesperados cuando el análisis y la documentación reve-laron información sobre el ordenamiento de los mapas y los materi-ales usados para hacerlos, incluyendo el uso de un pigmento decobre verde y yeso. Esta información no solo afectó la decisión sobreel tratamiento sino que aumentó los conocimientos sobre este
significativo libro. El tratamiento incluyó el uso de una técnicarecientemente adaptada que usa puntadas con fibras finas en susreparaciones.
BiographiesAnn-Marie Miller has worked as a book conservator at the BritishLibrary since 2004. Ann-Marie studied History of Art at the Cour-tauld Institute, London, followed by a post-graduate diploma andmasters in conservation at Camberwell College, London, fromwhich she graduated in 2001. She studied bookbinding at LondonCollege of Printing and then worked in the Wyvern Bindery,London whilst working as an independent project conservator forboth private conservators, and large institutions including theHouse of Lords and the Wellcome Trust Library. She achievedaccredited status as a book and archives conservator in 2007.
Lesley Hanson has worked as a paper conservator at the BritishLibrary since 2003. She currently works in the Large Format studioand is also involved in a number of preservation projects acrossCollection Care. Lesley studied History of Art and Fine Art at Gold-smiths College, University of London. Following this, she qualifiedas a teacher and spent the next 10 years living and working in Italyand Sri Lanka. This was followed by a two-year masters degree inconservation at Camberwell College, London, from which she grad-uated in 2000. Before joining the BL, she worked at the Museum ofLondon and at the National Maritime Museum, London on a broadrange of works of art on paper and archive material.
Materials and suppliersBondina, goldbeaters’ skin and Sympatex®:Preservation Equipment LtdVinces RoadDissNorfolk IP22 4HQUK
Cartasol dyes:Clariant Production UK LtdYeadonLeedsWest Yorkshire LS19 7BAUK
Daler-Rowney watercolours and Salianskiisinglass:L. Cornelissen and Son105 Great Russell StreetLondon WC1B 3RYUK
k[omacr ] zo shi II, tengujo, museum board and zinshofu wheat starch paste:Conservation By DesignTimecare Works5 Singer WayWoburn Road Industrial EstateKempstonBedford MK42 7AWUK
Ruscombe Mill, Queen Anne laid westernpaper:Ruscombe PaperMillSARL Bingham Rustige4 cours Pey-Berland33460 MargauxFrance
